"Malalai's Spanish colleagues are in solidarity with her once again"

To the women of Afghanistan
To the female MPs of Afghan Parliament
To the organizations working for women rights and peace

We, Spanish female members of the parliament, belonging to different parties want to express our support to Malalai Joya, member of the Afghan Parliament, after knowing she was ousted for a three years period. She was ousted for freely expressing her opinions as MP.

On the occasion of the current year 8th of March we released a communication in which we declared our deep condemnation for the news about the demonstration made by 20,000 former mujahidin in Kabul, headed by vice-president Abdul Karim Khalili, asking for an impunity law for the war criminals and screaming massively "Death to Malalai Joya!".

Because Someone Had to Do It

Director Eva Mulvad and Malalai Joya speak at the Q&A after their film Enemies of Happiness at the Silverdocs international documentary film festival on June 14 in Silver Spring, Maryland. (Photo by Lauren Ruane/AFI)

Malalai Joya isn't afraid of being assassinated. "I understand that one day they will kill me, because it's easy for them to kill people, especially women," she says about her enemies in Afghanistan, namely the former Taliban members, tribal warlords, and Northern Alliance fighters. These are the people who currently comprise Afghanistan's government -- people that Joya frequently denounces as "killers" and "criminals."

"But this is the voice of the voiceless people of Afghanistan," she continues. "And they can't silence this voice and they can't hide the truth. And they understand that." And then this outspoken 29-year-old Afghan activist suddenly smiles widely, even breaking out into laughter. How can she be laughing?

Sit-ins all over the world for the Afghan MP

Demonstration for Malalai Joya on the steps of Victorian State Parliament.

Rome. The other face of western countries, the one that doesn't want to hear at all about wars, and even less of the fundamentalism that come with the war, yesterday had a meeting in 21 places of the world (amongst the others, Rome, Milan, New York, Barcelona and Melbourne), to held sit ins starting at 18.30, local time. The goal of the action was to express their solidarity to the Afghan MP Malalai Joya, that since a month is persecuted by the parliament of Kabul, for some "inconvenient" declarations. In fact, an interview for Tolo TV the MP denounced the condition of the parliament of her country, which doesn't represent at all the people and which Malalai Joya judged "worse than a stable or a zoo" because of the presence of criminals and enemies of Afghan people". Those statements have caused the interdiction from her office or member of parliament, an accusation for insult by the supreme court and limitation of movement outside Afghanistan.

Pro-Joya demonstration in Australia

Demonstration for Malalai Joya on the steps of Victorian State Parliament.

KABUL, June 20: A group of parliamentarians and common citizens Wednesday staged a peaceful protest demonstration in Melbourne, Australia, in support of the ousted female MP Malalai Joya.

The participants were demanding the restoration of the outspoken legislator who was expelled from the Wolesi Jirga through a no-trust vote for her derogatory remarks against her fellow-parliamentarians.

MP Tammy Lobato, who presented a statement to his country's parliament in support of Joya, said they were determined to get Joya's situation raised in the federal parliaments across Australia.

"The Bravest Woman In Afghanistan"

AMY GOODMAN: Afghanistan's most outspoken female lawmaker has been suspended for the rest of her term after she publicly criticized the Afghan government. For years, Malalai Joya has been a leading critic of her parliament and the US role in her country. She has faced constant harassment for her views.

Malalai has come to the United States for a screening of a new documentary about her struggle. The film is called "Enemies of Happiness", premiering at the Human Rights Watch film festival here in New York. We'll speak with Malalai in a minute, but first an excerpt. The film begins in December 2003 at a meeting of Afghanistan's newly elected constitutional assembly, the loya jirga. A then-unknown twenty-four year old woman steps to the microphone to deliver a speech that will make international headlines and draw threats on her life.

Joya: 'US makes mockery of Afghan democracy'

Malalai Joya speaks to Reuters in New York June 18, 2007. Joya is in town to attend the screening of "Enemies of Happiness", a film inspired by her career, at the Human Rights Watch International Film Festival. (REUTERS/Jamie Fine)

NEW YORK (Reuters) - The United States is making a mockery of democracy and the war on terrorism by supporting corrupt Afghan lawmakers who are criminals and warlords, said an outspoken female Afghan politician, who was removed from parliament.

Malalai Joya, 29, was effectively expelled last month when the lower house of parliament voted to suspend her for the remaining 3 ½ years of her term after she described the legislative body as "worse than a stable" during an interview.

Washington "supports the same enemies, who are mentally like the Taliban. ... They brought them back into power," soft-spoken Joya told Reuters in an interview during a visit to the United States.

"This is the wrong policy. Do not support fundamentalist warlords," she said. "Every day for the people of Afghanistan is Sept. 11. Please pressure your government to change this policy, it is a mockery of democracy, it is a mockery of the war on terror."

"Enemies of Happiness" winner in the Silverdocs film festival in NewYork

Director Eva Mulvad and Malalai Joya speak at the Q&A after their film Enemies of Happiness at the Silverdocs international documentary film festival on June 14 in Silver Spring, Maryland. (Photo by Lauren Ruane/AFI)

Silver Spring, Maryland – Films about social and political relations took home audience and jury awards at the weeklong Silverdocs international documentary film festival.

Top award winners Please Vote for Me, by Chinese director Weijun Chen, and Enemies of Happiness, by Danish filmmaker Eva Mulvad, use stories about the political campaign process to educate about democracy.

Enemies of Happiness winner of "The world cinema jury prize for documentary" in Sundance and Silver Wolf Award at the 2006 International Documentary Festival Amsterdam (IDFA).

Afghanistan's leading female parliamentarian, Malalai Joya, will attend the
screenings of ENEMIES OF HAPPINESS at the Human Rights Watch International
Film Festival on June 16, 17 & 18 at the Walter Reade Theater at Lincoln
Center.

An inspiring film about personal courage and conviction, ENEMIES OF
HAPPINESS spotlights Joya and her life's work. Joya, became one of
Afghanistan's most recognized leaders in 2003 when she challenged the power
of warlords in the country's new government. Two years later, this
remarkable 28-year-old, a survivor of repeated assassination attempts, was
elected to the legislature in her country's first democratic parliamentary
election in more than 30 years.

Mrs. Monica Donini
President of the Legislative Assembly of Emilia-Romagna Region - Italy
June 13, 2007

Joya in a meeting with Mrs. Monica Donini (3rd from right) in Italy - 2005

Dear Sirs,

We have heard with deep disconcertment about the suspension from the Parliamentary offices of Mrs. Malalai Joya, a young woman who has always fought and still fights to assert human rights in her country; a woman we personally met and appreciated for her reliability, consciousness, courage, the sense of responsibility, the love and the confidence in her people and her country.

Malalai Joya is the voice, full of hope, of Afghan women and men who wish to live in peace in a free country, fully respectful of legality and her electoral mandate embodies important and fundamental expectations for the realization of the rights of peace, non-violence and democracy.

Therefore, it is our firm belief that Mrs. Malalai Joya shall be restore in her office inside the Parliament not only for the precious contribution she can offer to her country, but to the whole international community.

An interview Joya gave to Tolo TV, in which she compared some of her colleagues to barnyard animals, riled lawmakers to such an extent that they voted to suspend her from parliament, although legal scholars say the decision has no basis in the law.

My father gave me the name Malalai. Malalai being a national heroine who turned the tide of the Battle of Maiwand against the British in 1880. The story goes that she tore off her burqa, took up the sword and led a battalion to victory.—Malalai Joya

She was destined to become a hero. At the early age of four, Malalai Joya fled Afghanistan with her family to refugee camps in Iran and then Pakistan, where at 18 she began teaching other women to read and write. In 1998, she returned to Afghanistan and became a strident opponent of the Taliban. She established an orphanage and a health clinic. In 2003 her voice was heard around the world.

Brave Women of Afghanistan

It's hard to imagine a more brave parliamentarian than Malalai Joya. Joya is the young and outspoken Afghan representative who received international attention for denouncing her country's warlords in the 2003 constitutional convention. She asked "Why would you allow criminals to be present at this Loya Jirga? They are warlords responsible for our country's situation. They oppress women and have ruined our country. They should be prosecuted."

This incident, and the unrest that ensued, can be seen in a new documentary about her, "Enemies of Happiness," which won the Grand Jury Prize at the 2007 Sundance Film Festival. (Matt Pascarella reviews the film in the June issue of The Progressive.)